One glance at his record says there has never been another wrestler in Illinois like Josh Alber.

Ten of the 11 IHSA four-time state champions lost at least once. Mike Mena had a tie.

Josh Alber has never lost. Or tied.

And it's not because he is in Class 1A. Dakota's senior 132-pounder laid any doubts of that to rest at last week's Dvorak Tournament when he edged Jered Cortez 5-3 in overtime.

"He always wants to wrestle the best," his uncle and coach, Pete Alber, said. "He's got an undefeated record, but people could say he didn't wrestle that tough of a schedule. Yeah, he did. He wrestled the No. 1 kid in the nation."

Alber has beaten a trio of three-time state champions: Glenbard North's Cortez, Aurora Marmion's Johnny Jiminez and Stillman Valley's J.J. Whaley. And it could have been a trio of four-time state champs. Cortez and Jiminez are huge favorites to win again in Class 3A this year and Whaley was third in 1A as a freshman after losing a close 6-4 decision in the state quarterfinals. But Cortez was the biggest notch of all; he won his last two 3A state titles by 11-0 and 9-1 margins and beat defending state champ Jordan Northrup of Harlem 14-2 at last year's Dvorak.

For a decade now, the face of Dakota sports in my view, was Matt Wenger.

Wenger was a force of will as much as a force of nature, leading Dakota to state titles in football and wrestling.

"Matt was the same way as Josh," Pete Alber said. "When we were down in Florida (in a summer tournament) or at team state, I always gave him the hardest matches. He was the best."

Josh Alber, at 132 pounds, looks about half as big as Wenger, but he's every bit as fearless.

"I don't think you can get more fearless," coach Alber said.

He even moves up a weight class for a challenge. Against Whaley. And then against Cortez.

Alber, who has beaten Jiminez twice, was going to certify to wrestle 126 this year, but he wanted to face Cortez. That had to be at 132.

"I told him there is no reason to certify at 126 if you are going to wrestle 132 at the Dvorak," his coach said. "There is no one in 1A that can touch him."

Even if there were, Alber would want to wrestle them anyway.

Josh Alber, who was on vacation and couldn't be reached for this column, has always tried to tackle the toughest challenges. As a freshman, he moved up from 103 to 112 to tackle Stillman Valley senior Miah Shearer. Alber won only after throwing Shearer for a takedown in the last five seconds to force overtime.

Page 2 of 2 - For 20 years, the state's greatest wrestlers have been making a run at perfection. Josh Alber will surely finally be the one, and he got there by taking the toughest road he could.

"There are not a whole lot of people like him who don't care about his record," his uncle said. "He doesn't want to back in. He's never dodged a challenge. Never.

"It would be nice to be undefeated, but he doesn't want to be undefeated and say he's not really that tough. You can't say that anymore. Nobody in the state will."